"A Prairie Home Companion" Gets Reboot
Under new host Chris Thile, relaunch is rich in NEC performers.
With the October 15 episode of A Prairie Home Companion, Nickel Creek mandolinist Chris Thile takes over from Garrison Keillor as the show's host. While Thile understandably is the headline of this closely watched reboot, there have also been rumblings about the explosion of NEC talent that has emerged on this show, and that will be prominently featured beginning with this first episode.
Here's a listener's/viewer's guide to NEC artists currently on the show.
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The Archive site for "A Prairie Home Companion" offers audio clips, photos, scripts, and guest information from every performance going back to 1996. The show itself began in 1974. In 1981, there was a live broadcast from NEC's Jordan Hall that is included on the Tourists album. Based on information in the Archives, other NEC alumni and faculty who have appeared on the show include:
- Jazz pianist Fred Hersch '77 (2003)
- Fiddler Winifred Horan (as a member of Solas, 1996)
- Frank London '80, many appearances with Klezmatics, which he founded with other alumni. The most recent are included in the Archives: from 2009, and Show #1262.
- Hankus Netsky with Klezmer Conservatory Band, which he founded, beginning with the 1981 Jordan Hall show and continuing for a dozen appearances. The most recent are included in the Archives: Show #1320, Show #1371.
- Broadcast from Tanglewood with Boston Symphony Orchestra players Mike Roylance, tuba, and Lawrence Wolfe, double bass (2008)
- Pianist Jacqueline Schwab '83 (with Jean Redpath, 1998)